Friday, April 1, 2011

*Warning: There are some somewhat gross details in here, so if you're squeamish, or a man, I recommend closing this post and coming back next week.

On Wednesday morning at 8:30, I was getting ready to clean the bath tub when I started bleeding. We have had a miscarriage before (right before Lady), so I immediately got very scared. Seeing blood is scary in pregnancy anyway, but when you have a history of miscarriage, the sight of blood brings back a flood of terrible emotions and reminds you of everything you felt and experienced before. I knew there was a possibility I had a low-lying placenta (even though having it twice is very rare, and I had it with Lady), so I was holding on to that, sobbing hysterically, and praying like crazy for the baby I'm carrying.

Of course, my husband was at work, and his lunch wasn't until 10. He can't check his phone while he's working, so I was considering calling him at work, but I knew he would worry himself sick and didn't want to call him right away (and not having his extension or anything made it a little more stressful and I was stressed out enough as it was), so I called my midwife. She asked if I had someone to take me to the hospital, and I didn't. Nic was at work and couldn't check his phone, and I have no family in the area and only a couple friends, so I wasn't sure how this would all unfold. My midwife (LOVE her!!) said she would come over and take me to the hospital, I just needed to find someone to watch the girls. I called my friend Morgan, and it turned out that that day the circumstances were just right and she was able to come and watch them.

My midwife got to my house first, with Morgan arriving shortly after. They came in and my midwife asked questions, took my vitals, and then asked if I wanted her to bring in her doppler in and try to hear the baby's heartbeat. I wasn't sure at first, because I knew I would worry myself sick if we weren't able to hear the baby's heartbeat. I was far enough along that if the baby was okay, we would hear the heartbeat (we had heard it a week before.... I'm 12 weeks now). After a very short mental debate, I decided that if we didn't at least try, I would STILL worry myself sick, so I said maybe it would be a good idea to try and listen. Marie (my midwife) was able to find the heartbeat almost immediately. The heartbeat was 170-180 bpm so a little on the fast side, but hey, there was a heartbeat! I breathed the biggest sigh of relief in my life. Morgan called Nic's work shortly after that to let him know what was going on (it was about 9:30 by this time). I talked to him and let him know I was okay, we got the baby's heartbeat so the baby was okay, but I was bleeding and we were thinking about going to the emergency room. He said he was going to try to get off at lunch.

We talked about not going to the ER and just scheduling an ultrasound in the next few days instead, since the bleeding was slowing and we got the baby's heartbeat. Marie asked me to check my pad and we'll go from there. As I was almost done in the bathroom, a decent amount of blood came out, so we decided to go ahead and go in.

We got to the ER around 9:45 or 9:50, and waited for a very short time (apparently early in the morning is the best time to go to the emergency room). They brought me into triage to get me all admitted and whatnot, and I was so thankful to have my midwife with me. She had my file and all my paperwork with her, including my labs from the week before, so they didn't even have to draw blood or start an IV (which they almost ALWAYS do when you go to the emergency room). That was great news for someone as afraid of needles as I am! I absolutely loved having my midwife there, and I love that she cared enough to stay with us, even after Nic got there. I have to say, I don't think I will ever go back to an OBGYN again! Midwifery care is so much more personal, and less assembly line-like.

So they got me in the room, and the ER doctor was not just a woman (which I'm much more comfortable with), but a nice one! She was so sweet and personable (although maybe it was just because it was early in the morning!). I got into my lovely hospital gown so she could do a pelvic exam to see if I was dilated. As she was getting started, I had a huge gush of blood..... it was running all over the floor, and I passed a HUGE clot, and the poor doctor was not prepared for any of it. She was trying to find those pad things and towels and whatnot when Nic came in (he called when he got off work and didn't know we decided to go to the hospital until he called and I said we were AT the hospital, and he started panicking... so he was already not doing very well when he got there, and seeing the blood stressed him out more). She got a specimen cup to put the clot in, and Nic and I both almost started hyperventilating. That was a decent sized clot, and that's NEVER a good sign, ESPECIALLY in pregnancy. Upon further inspection, she said it wasn't anything to worry about. She said I was a little dilated, but not enough to be concerned.

I covered myself back up and she left just in time for the ultrasound tech to walk in with the machine. That helped me, and especially Nic, chill out a lot. Seeing the baby (it actually looked like a baby, too!) jumping around in there made us feel SO much better.

When the doctor came back with the ultrasound results and the results from my urine and all that, she said I had no infections or anything, and that my placenta is about a centimeter away from my cervix, which is causing the bleeding. Kind of odd that I have it again, but I'm glad it's something that minor and not something to worry about!

So now I'm taking it easy for a bit, my placenta will move up on its own as my uterus gets bigger, and this pregnancy should have a happy ending.

Thursday, March 10, 2011

I have been very silent recently. I'm very sorry for that. But I have a good reason--I'm 9 weeks pregnant with our third blessing! I'm still in the first trimester, so my posting will probably still be sporadic at best. The first trimester exhaustion has hit, along with the morning sickness. The morning sickness is different this time around--instead of throwing up a couple times (okay, constantly for the first half of the day) and being done with it, I only throw up sometimes.... and I'm nauseous for the entire rest of the day. Especially if my stomach is empty. I almost prefer the throwing up to this! There is no relief for the nausea.

We got a new camera finally--with a 3 year warranty! I've never had a camera last more than a year before I drop it, and the warranty we got covers accidental drops, so we will not have to buy a new camera for at least 3 years. I'm very happy about that. Of course, I sometimes forget that we have a camera again, so I'm not taking a whole lot of pictures. I'm used to not having that opportunity! But here are a few pictures I've taken since we got our camera at the end of February.

I will be back to blogging for a bit, possibly a little sporadically, at least for the next month or so, but I'll do my best to post regularly! Thanks for your patience!

Monday, January 31, 2011

A little over a week ago, I decided to experiment a bit. I cut refined sugar out of my diet. I have not had sugar (or HFCS or artificial sweeteners or anything of that nature) since last Saturday. It has helped my energy levels a little, and it's helped my brain fog a lot! The last few weeks I've felt just....... blah. I have never knows what people mean when they say "brain fog" but I totally know now! But thankfully said brain fog is minimal, thanks to cutting sugar.

And going mostly sugar-free is a HUGE accomplishment for me, especially since there has been chocolate cake in my house every day since I went off sugar. :P

Why MOSTLY sugar-free? Because yesterday, there was a potluck after church. Of course, I didn't know that, as it was only our second time at that church, so I didn't bring something I could eat.

Do you have any idea how difficult it is to eat sugar-free at a church potluck?!

Wow. I piled some stuff on my plate that was probably sugar-free, and avoided those that for sure had sugar in it, or I was pretty sure had sugar. This left very little to choose from! I had some seafood chowder, because I figured I make seafood chowder all the time, and there's no sugar in it. Well, when I tasted it, it was really sweet. That tipped me off, and after a few bites I started getting concerned and inspected all the pieces of food in that chowder, and there I spotted it...... imitation crab meat. Do you know what that is exactly? That is a small amount of fish, usually pollock, with lots of colorants and flavorings and..... you guessed it..... sugar. They must have put lots of imitation crab meat in this chowder (combined with my new found sensitivity to sugar, I'm sure), because that was the sweetest chowder I've ever tasted.

About half way into my meal (I had abandoned my chowder after 5 bites and moved on to other things.... finally landing on the veggies and fruit I had piled on my plate), I started feeling shaky and a little nauseous, and started to get a bit of a headache. I had already detoxed from the lack of sugar, so my body was reacting to the sugar. It wasn't terrible, I just knew that I couldn't just hope for the best again..... and it served as a reminder to introduce sugar back into my diet VERY slowly when I finally do allow myself sugar again.

Anyway, other than the church potluck incident, I've been allowing myself natural sweeteners, like honey, maple syrup, and sucanat. I've been trying to find a good coffee creamer substitute for my "coffee" that doesn't contain sugar or HFCS, and I'm still playing around with recipes for that..... hopefully I will perfect it soon and post it. When I'm in a dessert mood, I've been having an apple, a bowl of frozen berries, or chocolate soothers (YUM..... this is perfect because hot chocolate is my weakness. I usually add a little more milk than the recipe calls for because I like it to be a little thinner, but I've been considering making some just to put in the fridge and see if it sets up like pudding!). When I need snacks, I make popcorn or have some cheese. I put honey in my tea at night.

The only problem is that 99% of anything made with flour has sugar in it! So that eliminates a lot of grains from my diet..... some pastas, breads, cinnamon rolls (ha!), pancakes, etc. unless I can adapt them. We had pancakes for breakfast last Saturday, and I used sucanat instead of sugar. But not all recipes are as adaptable as pancakes! So this has cut my carb consumption a lot, which is probably a good thing! It's gearing me up to go gluten-free, which I may do very soon!

Overall, I'm feeling good. I'm still tired (then again, I haven't been getting enough sleep, so that's probably an easy and obvious fix), but my brain fog has cleared a lot. I don't find myself staring off into space as much, and I'm thinking a lot more clearly. I'm also experiencing a few detox symptoms (I was SO broken out all week, and no, it's not that time of the month!), but those will pass.

It's kind of hard, because EVERYTHING has sugar in it. From pancakes to ketchup to pickles to cereal (even cheerios)..... everything!! I pretty much have to make EVERYTHING myself and make adaptions. Which is fine, I make most things myself anyway, it just means I can't be lazy, and on days where I don't feel like cooking..... that's too bad!

I'll check back in again soon and let you all know how I'm doing with my sugar-free adventure!

Have you ever gone sugar-free? Could you do it? Do you have any ideas for me, or recommendations for "dessert" ideas?

Thursday, January 27, 2011

I put together a list of books that I want to read in 2011. These are in order, but I might change my mind later. I also might change my mind and read a few different books. Ha! I plan to read a book a month (but I have terrible follow-through, so we'll see). But anyway, here is my list.

1. The Pioneer Woman Cooks by Ree Drummond. I got this for Christmas, and I LOVE it. I've cooked a lot from her site and everything is always a hit with the whole family, so I'm excited to have her cookbook! And it's not just a cookbook, it has little facts from her life in it too, so don't laugh at me because I put it on my reading list!

2. For Women Only by Shaunti Feldhahn. I've read this twice before, but I want to re-read it. It's an easy read, I think it maybe took me 3 or 4 days to get through it the first time. Kristi over at Courageous Homekeeping is dissecting it at the moment, it's kind of fun to discuss!

3.Who Got Peanut Butter On My Daily Planner? by Cindy Sigler Dagnan. I don't remember who recommended this to me, but it's been sitting on my bookshelf (well.... technically it's been in the garage because my bookshelf broke and we just got a new one a couple weeks ago) for a year and I haven't read it yet.

4. Passionate Housewives Desperate for God by Jennie Chancey and Stacy McDonald. This is another one I've had for about a year and EVERYONE always recommends it to me, but I haven't gotten around to reading it yet. I will do it this year!

5. Nourishing Traditions by Sally Fallon. I'm part way through this book, but it's SOOOO long, it's taking me forever to get through it. It's really interesting so far, but my goal is to finish it this year.

6. In Defense of Food by Michael Pollan. This is on my list for when I finish Nourishing Traditions.

9. Facedown by Matt Redman. I started to read this a couple years ago but never finished it. I'm terrible about that.... do you have any clue how many books I've started and haven't finished?!

10. Created To Be His Helpmeet by Debi Pearl. This has been recommended to me before, although it's a little controversial. I have it sitting on my bookshelf and it's a little intimidating.... but I will read it!

12. The Red Tent by Anita Diamant. My sister recommended it to me. It's historical fiction, based on Biblical events, although it is fiction. I'm really excited for this one.

And here is a list of books I want to read if I get to them, but might wait until next year to read.

The Maker's Diet by Jordan Rubin. I might actually squeeze this in soon, because I've been having a couple health issues recently that I think this would help with.

Sacred Influence by Gary Thomas. This book is SO good. I've read half of it..... and I have no idea what happened to it! The book went missing. So if I ever find it, I'll be re-reading it and finishing it!